DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and the Legal Chronicle

16

FOOTNOTES TO HISTORY

powers to calm the sea.
As part of the Seder cere-
monies four cups of wine are
Passover in Folklore and Legend
drunk. They are explained as
By RABBI MORDECAI L. BRILL
"four toasts to freedom" and
Passover, the festival of re- tire week of the festival on the correspond to the four promises
demption, is a very old spring slope of the hill on whose top of redemption mentioned in the
Bible in connection with the Exo-
festival. In Palestine it is ob- their temple once stood.
dus.
served for seven days with the
"The Jews of Morocco drama-
first and last days as days of
Many of the old-time Hag-
complete rest while outside of tize part of the Passover story. gadahs (booklet containing rit-
Palestine it is still observed as After reciting the Seder service, ual for Seder night) contain
an eight day festival with the every male in the house slings drawings and illustrations. Often-
first two and last two days as a rod and a pack over his shoul- times these illustrations give us
full holidays with cessation of der. Rushing out of the house an insight into Jewish values.
they run up and down the street In one illustration picturing the
work.
When the Temple stood in shouting, "In this manner our four sons of the Haggadah the
Jerusalem, it was considered forefathers went out of Egypt, Rasha or wicked son is portrayed
their kneading-troughs bound up in a soldier's uniform. Is this
obligatory to make a pilgrimage
in their clothes upon their shoul- a subtle protest against militar-
there to offer up the paschal ders."
ism and war?
lamb. Jerusalem was never so
It is also a custom among
crowded as during the Pesach
During the course of the Se-
holiday. It has been estimated Moroccan Jews to carry away der it is customary to point to
with
them
from
the
Seder
table
that the city had a permanent
the various objects and symbols
population in those days of 100,- a piece of the afikomon, the as they are mentioned. Thus we
000. This number was more than matzoth saved for the end of point to the matzoth and maror
doubled by the pilgrims who came the meal. They carry it as a (bitter herbs). In one illustrated
on the holidays. Every bit of safeguard on ocean voyages and Haggadah the picture shows the
space was used to take care of throw it into the waters in time husband pointing to his wife
the "tourist trade." Whoever of storm, claiming that it has at that particular moment when
had a spare bit of space offered
it to the visitors without pay.
Custom prescribed, however, that
the pilgrims offer their hosts the
skins of the animals they had
sacrificed in the Temple.
The pilgrims came from every
corner of the then known world;
from Syria, Babylonia, Greece,
Egypt and Rome. They did not
speak the same language; those
from Mesopotamia and there-
abouts spoke various dialects of
Aramaic; most of the Jews who
came from the west spoke Greek.
In Temple times when clocks
were scarce it was necessary to
work out some system whereby
the people would know exactly
when to stop eating chometz or
unleavened bread. On the morn-
ing before Pesach all the people
of Jerusalem waited for the offi-
cial signal to burn the chometz.
The signal was given by the
priests who placed two loaves of
bread on top of the outside col-
onnade of the Temple. As long
as these two loaves were in view,
chometz could still be eaten.
When one loaf was removed, the
people stopped eating chometz.
When the second loaf was re-
moved, the people began to burn
their chometz.
However, this system of sig-
nals was not adequate for a city
the size of Jerusalem and an-
other signal system was ar-
ranged. Two oxen were set to
plowing on top of the Mount
of Olives and as long as both
were attached to the plow, chom-
etz might still be eaten. The
unhitching of one was a signal
to cease eating chometz and the
unhitching of the second was the
sign to start burning the chom-
etz.
Among the Marranos (secret
Jews of Spain and Portugal)
Passover was also observed but
in a surreptitious manner. Not
having access to a Jewish calen-
dar they did not know when the
holidays fell. "Thus they ob-
served Yom Kippur on the tenth
day after the full moon of Sep-
tember and Pesach at the full
moon of March. When the spies
of the Inquisition discovered
these observances, the Marranos
advanced the dates of the fes-
tivals, observing Yom Kippur on
the eleventh day following the
new moon of September and
Pesach on the sixteenth day
after the appearance of the New
Moon of March."
In Mexico there were Mar-
ranos, who after slaughtering the
Paschal lamb would smear the
blood of the sheep on their door-
posts, thereby carrying out the
old biblical commandment.
There are Marranos today in
Portugal who still carry out the
observance of Passover in the
manner peculiar to their ances-
tors of the past five centuries.
In modern day Palestine there
is, at the present time, the rem-
nant of a Jewish sect known as
the Samaritans. They speak
Arabic and live in a special
quarter in Nablus, Arab village.
They have a synagogue there
and a High Priest, who is their
teacher and leader. They have
always denied the sanctity of
Jerusale mand consider Shechem
(the present city of Nablus) the
holy city. At one time they built
a temple on top of Mount Geri-
zim, their holy mountain. It was
later destroyed.
The custom of offering up the
Paschal lamb on Mount Geri-
zim is still observed there. The
entire community (consisting to-
day of 200 souls) spends the en-

April 11, 1941

he should have been pointing to
the bitter herbs. Would that be
ground for divorce in modern
times? You answer that one. Our
concern is with history.

SAM KAY OR PETKOWSKY
IS SOUGHT HERE

Information is being sought
of Sam Kay, also known as Pet-
kowsky, who disappeared from
his home in the Bronx, N. Y., in
July, 1940, leaving his wife and
two minor children, unprovided
for and since then has failed to
make any contribution to their
support, as a result of which
his family is destitute and de-
pendent on the charities. Mr.
Kay, who is believed to be in
Detroit, is 37 years of age, 5
feet tall, weighed 135 pounds,
has black hair, blue eyes, a mus-
tache and is a peddler by occu-
pation. Anyone aware of his lo-
cation is requested to communi-
cate with the National Deser-
tion Bureau, 67 W. 47th St.,
New York City.

J. C. S. Visits
125 Universities

In Five Months

Carrying forward its program
of supplying to colleges and mil-
versities throughout the coun-
try qualified lecturers on sub.
jects pertaining to the Jew, his
history, culture and beliefs, the
Jewish Chautauqua Society sent
speakers to 125 universities from
November through March, it \as
announced this week by Arthur
Strauss, Chicago, chairman of the
executive committee.
Local men on the board of
trustees of the J. C. S. are
Fred M. Butzel and Henry Wi
man.

In the Spitalfields section of
London's East End it was once
the custom for Jewish house-
holders to present matzoth to
their non-Jewish neighbors on
Passover and to receive in re-
turn plum puddings Christ-
mas.

EASTER S OPPEBS

FOR THERE'S NO BETTER GIFT THAN THE
CLEAN WHITE PACKS WITH THEIR

"44,1 4, Tera ZiO

Easter shoppers and all smokers,

who are after smoking pleasure
at its best, are asking for Chester-
field...because the finest tobaccos
from our own Southland blended
with costly aromatic tobaccos
from far-off Turkey and Greece
give Chesterfield a definitely
Milder, Cooler, decidedly BetterTaste.

THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED
THE SMOKER'S CIGARETTE

■-■

Cupyr.gLt 1931, Liccrrt 6 My us Tocacco Co.